SCARBOROUGH — Maine, not unlike most states, is facing one of the highest shortages of skilled trades workers. In 2017, a global staffing firm reported that skilled-trade vacancies are the hardest jobs to fill and remain the No. 1 job vacancy from 2010 to present. In response, four well-known Maine-based business leaders created the “Maine Blue Collar Scholarship Foundation” as an incentive to graduating high school students to pursue trade school. In 2018, the foundation awarded $21,000 in scholarships to 26 students ranging from $500 to $2,500.

Joyce Brenny, chief executive of Brenny Transportation in Minnesota, gave her truck drivers a 15 percent raise this year, but she still can’t find enough workers for a job that now pays $80,000 a year.

” In general, the student loan crisis has had a negative impact on overall consumer spending, with young people making up a crucial portion of the market. Those burdened with large amounts of student debt have significantly less disposable income, which hurts the economy as a whole. “

” The 20 percent pass-through deduction in the new tax law could provide a major benefit for self-employed, but there are also some important caveats.

“Getting a 20 percent reduction off your business income for individuals who are either sole proprietors, or if they are self-incorporated and have business income that is below the threshold of the specified service of $157,500, or $315,000 if they’re married, is going to be quite an incentive for people to want to be independent contractors and freelancers,” said MBO Partners CEO Gene Zaino, whose firm provides technology for self-employed professionals. ”

Right now is the perfect time to learn a trade and go out on your own, the economy is strong and there are tax incentives!

“Money isn’t the only issue, advocates for career and technical education say. An even bigger challenge is convincing parents that it leads to good jobs.

“They remember ‘voc-ed’ from when they were in high school, which is not necessarily what they aspire to for their own kids,” Kreamer said.

The parents “are definitely harder to convince because there is that stigma of the six-pack-totin’ ironworker,” said Greg Christiansen, who runs the ironworkers training program. Added Kairie Pierce, apprenticeship and college director for the Washington State Labor Council of the AFL-CIO: “It sort of has this connotation of being a dirty job. ‘It’s hard work — I want something better for my son or daughter.’ ” “

https://mainebluecollar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/MBCSF_logo_web.png00Danielle Moodyhttps://mainebluecollar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/MBCSF_logo_web.pngDanielle Moody2018-05-08 09:45:182018-05-08 09:45:18High-Paying Trade Jobs Sit Empty, While High School Grads Line Up For University

“The friction around the best path forward after high school is popping up around the country as anxious students and families try to figure out how to pay for four years of college. At the same time, business groups and state governments make the case for a free or much cheaper vocational education.

The conversation is being fueled by questions about the declining value of a college degree as well as the rising cost of tuition and student debt. Low unemployment and a strong job market are exacerbating an already growing skills gap, raising prospects for tradespeople like welders who are in high demand.”

“ ‘Raelee was smart from the time she was a baby, from the time she was two nobody could dress her, she was always a leader and she had her own mind,” said Raelee’s mother, Beth Nicholson, a nurse. “I always expected her to go to a four-year college. That was my expectation.”

But when she was 14, Raelee rebuilt a car with her older cousin.

“We worked on it the entire summer and when we got it running it was the best feeling in the world,” she said. “I really like working with my hands.’ ”